Coin-freed vending machine



March 31, 1931. P. VSEITZ 1,798,172 1 com FREED VENDING menus Filed Oct.23, 1929 I m w 5 I I" i 5 :5. j I ii '2 a; 3 Hi i 2 Li .9

INVENTOR PFIUL SEITZ H TTORNEYS Patented Mar. 3 1., 1931 1 UNITED STATES'PATENT OFFICE v PAUL snrrz, or KIREUZNAGH, GERMANY, AssIeNoR 'roSEITZ-WERKE G. m. B. 11., or

KREUZNAGH, GERMANY COIN-FREED VENDING- MACHINE Application filed October2 3, 1929, Serial No.

The present invention relates to automatic vending machines of the typein which the, goods are delivered subsequent to the insertion of anumber of coins. The object of the 5 invention is to provide means forrecovering from the automatic vending machine prior to ..the delivery ofthe goods, any coins which have already been inserted. Such anarrangement is necessary with automatic vendmg machines in which thegoods are delivered after the insertion 01%. number of coins be causethe purchaser may find that he is mis- .taken as to the number of coinsin his possession and then must be able to recover the .coins which hehas already inserted.

According to the present invention this problem is solved by providingthe coin chute,

in which the'inserted coins are held prior ,to

their passage to the release deviceand to the coin collector until thecomplete number of coins have been inserted, with an aperture whichnormally is closed but can be opened by means of the action of a pressbutton or the like provided on the-exterior of the automatic vendingmachine and operated by the purchaser, whereupon the coins which havebeen inserted fall into a receptacle-which is accessible from theoutside of the machine,

whence they can be removed by the purchaser.

The arrangement according to the invention can further be such that therecovery of coins from the au matic vending machine is possible only beore the complete number of coins requisite for the delivery of the goodshas been inserted but is no longer possible after the last coin has beeninserted L in the automatic'vending machine. For this purpose, accordingto the invention, the coins drop on to an arm of a balance, the .free

' end of which projects into the coin chute,

the balance being so adjusted that the arm is only displac ed by theweight of the coins w when the complete number of coins has beeninserted and then allows the coins to pass to the release device of theautomatic vending machine and to' the container in which the coinsarecollect-ed.

The arrangement can be used in the case when a plurality of aperturesfor the inser- 59 tion of'coins of different values and a corre-401,704, and in Germany llovember 3, 1928.

chute 1 where they are in the first place retained by a stop device 2the action of which is described more full below. In the wall of thechute and pre erably directly above the stop ,device 2 is provided anaperture 3 which preferably is in the form of an clongated apertureextending in a vertical direction and which is normally closed by acorrespondingly'shaped flap member 4 which is mounted on the pivot 5 onthe outer wall of-' the coin chute 1. By pressing-the knob 6 the flapmember 4 can be caused to uncover the aperture 33H? desired by the meetan intermediate gear such as a double-armed lever 7, the lever 7- andthe flap member 4 then assuming the positions 7', 4 indicated in dottedlines in Fig. 1 and the coins in the chute fallwthrough the aperture 3into the receptacle 1.0 which is accessiblefrom the outside of themachine and from which the coins can be removed.

As shown in Fig. 2 the flap members 4 in the two coin chutes 1 areactuated by a common pressbutton 6 by means of the lever 7 and a rod 8.

The coin chute 1 can be closed approxi- I matelyat the level of thelower edge of the aperture 3 by vmeans of a movable closure member 2-,which after all the coins have been inserted allows the coins to pass tothe release device. In this case it is possible to recover the coinseven after the insertion of the last of the necessary npmber of coins.It is preferred however for practical use to arrange that thepossibility of recovering coins is only present until after theinsertion of the penultimate coin whereas after the insertion of thelast coin the vending device immediately becomes operative. For, this.

purpose the closure member 2 in the coin chute is constituted by an armof a balance 9. The arm 2 of this balance, which may be a wei ht orspring balance as desired, passes into the coin chute 1 and the balanceis so adjusted that the arm 2 remains in position to retain the coinsuntil after the insertion of the penultimate coin but after theinsertion of the last coin is displaced by the total weight of the coinsand allows the coins to pass to the delivery device, preferablyoperating automatically, and tothe container in which the coins arecollected. The balance can be adjusted as indicated in Fig. 2

by positioning a counter-weight or by alter-' ing' the setting of aspring and thus adapted to the w eight'of any number of coins which hasto be inserted.

I claim 1. In an automatic vending machine, a coin I chute having acoin-delivery aperture in its wall, movable means normally closlng saidaperture, means operable outslde of the machine for moving said closingmeans thereby to open the apertureQand means for supporting coins insaid chute in position to pass successively through said aperture, saidsupporting means being automatically shiftable under the weight of apredetermined number of coins thereby to move said coins out of saidposition and prevent delivery thereof through said aperture.

2. In an automatic vending machine, a coin chute having a coin-deliveryaperture in its wall, movable means normally closing said aperture,means operable outside of the machine for moving said closing meansthereby to open the aperture, and a pivoted member extending into saidchute for supporting coins in position to pass successively through saidaperture, said member being adapted to swing on its pivot under theweight of a predetermined number of coins thereby to move said coins outof said position and prevent delivery thereof through said aperture.

3. In an automatic vending machine, a coin chute having a coin-deliveryaperture in its wall, a pivoted member normally closing said aperture,depressible means operable out 53 side of the, machine for operatingsaidmem-- her into aperture-opening 7 position, and a pivoted memberextending into said chute for supporting coins in position to passsucce'ssively through said aperture, said member being adapted to swingon itsv pivot under the weight of a predetermined number of coinsthereby to move said coins out ofsaidposition and prevent deliverythereof through said aperture.

In testimony whereof I afiix' my signature. "PAUL SEI TZ.

